8 iOS Games for Word Nerds

The process of keeping the mind sharp and punchy is a lot like going to the gym -- except instead of lifting weights and working up a nasty sweat, some of us prefer to engage in a bit of clever wordplay to keep the brain firing on all cylinders. When mental gymnastics are preferable to good old-fashioned physical exercise, the App Store is a hot spot for hunting down the best puzzle games for getting the job done. Get ready to flex some mental muscle and scarf down some tasty word salad with these stimulating gaming apps for the orthographically inclined.

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iOS Games for Word Nerds

For those times you feel like getting your fingers dirty with some serious verbiage, Word Mess ($0.99, Universal) offers a more chaotic twist on traditional word searches -- one that has you hunting down and tapping words amidst a jumble before time runs out. The action gets even crazier when words are flipped around at odd angles and tweaked in other fun ways.

There might not be any wizardry afoot in SpellTower ($0.99, Universal), but this unique word puzzler is enchanting nonetheless. Crafting words earns you points and clears some letter blocks from the screen, but every move pushes the tower upwards on the playing field, forcing your to think strategically to keep the precarious stack from reaching the top.

So what if it's essentially a re-skinned version of the classic board game Scrabble? Words With Friends HD ($2.99, Universal) is still a masterful exercise in turn-based word-crafting combat against online pals. What's old is new again, and the added features, fresh presentation, and social networking connectivity round out this great reboot.

Aside from being utterly adorable, Scribblenauts Remix ($0.99, Universal) is a rare treat for word puzzle enthusiasts. Creativity runs rampant in this charming cartoon platformer, which lets you type in crazy word combinations to craft items that help your pint-sized hero overcome a broad range of obstacles. It's a rad mix of jaw-dropping fun and silliness.

Word Jigsaw (Free, Universal) is one of the more intriguing puzzle genre mash-ups around. Rather than creating individual words, you're tasked with fitting pieces of a bigger puzzle together on the playing grid, and the letter combinations etched into each block are your only clues on how to put it all together. It's a challenging and quite cool change of pace.

The clock is ticking and you only have a few minutes to carve as many words as humanly possible out of a 10x10 letter block grid. Wurdle ($1.99, Universal) dishes out a fast-and-loose take on classic Boggle that gets the brain juice pumping, and while timed solo play is a blast, it's the same-screen competitive multiplayer that really gives this one some oomph.

If getting in on some old-school hangman just doesn't sound that awesome, Hangman RSS (Free, Universal) is a fresh way to spice up the familiar formula. Rather than guessing simple phrases, you must work to decode missing words ripped from current news headlines. It's a simple tweak that makes trying to avoid your stick figure's premature demise a lot more fun.

W.E.L.D.E.R. ($0.99, Universal) wants you to join the fight in the war on word erosion. With its slick steampunk vibe and shiny red "Apocalypse Swap" button, how can you resist? Switching letter tiles to create words is tricky business when you've got limited moves, but unlocking extra swaps by scoring big and working around special tiles quickly turns addictive.

Words for Nerds is pretty cool.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/words-for-nerds-free/id652169834
It's free, it's got trivia and you can play against an AI if you don't want to have to wait around for other people.